Why are the different sections of a lesson plan important to the teacher?

Question

Why are the different sections of a lesson plan important to the teacher?

Answer 1

?? Depends on what sections you are talking about. In my lesson plans, I have a timing section, an activity section, and sometimes a "purpose of this activity" bit.

The timing section just lets me guess how much time each activity will take, so I don't go over, or wind up ridiculously short. I always try to have one or two "bonus" activities just in case I still have time left at the end of a lesson.

The activities just give me a good idea of what I'm doing. I like to have the activities integrated, and I like to make sure they build upon each other. If the activities don't look good on paper, I'm pretty sure they'll look dumb in class.

The purpose? Sometimes I have to justify what I'm teaching. Sometimes I just need to keep on track, and remember WHY I'm teaching this particular thing (instead of going off on tangents).

Answer 2

Beginning teachers, in particular, need to know the sections of the plan.  The sections I'm referring to are"

Overall goal

Specific objectives - linked to your state's standards in that subject area

Initiating activity - teacher introduces topic or skill

Guided practice - students do a few activities with teacher monitoring and answering any questions that come up.

Independent practice - Once teacher sees that students understand she assigns more examples to be done in class or for homework

Closure - Teacher asks questions to check for understanding of what was learned, including possibly the steps in solving a problem, the main parts to a story, the definition of a word and some examples, etc.  Closure is like a review or informal evaluation.

Evaluation:  This is usually written and can be done in today's  lesson or on a following day after the students have had more practice.

This is very sketchy and is only one type of lesson plan, known as direct instruction.  As you can see each part builds on the previous part and leads to understanding the topic or skill.  Beginning teachers need to write these things down so they don't forget.  Expert teachers write short notes in their planning book, because they know what a lesson contains and why it is important.

Answer 3

My lesson plans always include the objective, page numbers in the corresponding manuals, approximate time frames, and general procedure of each lesson.